Going Back
by SpiritElm
Summary: Sequel to Different DNA. The DNA helped her win the games once, but now it's her worst nightmare. What will Charlene do when she is faced with the Games once again, but this time she stands alone her only help is Cato. Can they survive the games together once again or are they destined to crash and burn?
1. Chapter 1

I collapse to the floor, tears cascading down my cheeks. My sobs are loud and I almost don't hear the words spoken from the darkness. "Hello?" a girls voice questions then there is a small snap and a dim light bulb flickers on. At the corner of the room, on a padded window type seat that runs the length of the opposite wall, I can just about make out a girl. She has scraggly knotted honey blonde hair, pale skin and a small smile on her face. Something about her is so familiar but I can't think what. "Hello?" she questions again "can you hear me?" she hops of the bench and makes her way cautiously towards me. I nod my head and she tilts her head to the side "are you real" she asks and I frown at her. "I dream about others sometimes" she whispers "it gets lonely in here" and that's when I put a name to her face; she was the victor of the 70th annual Hunger Games but she supposedly died two days after she returned to district 8. "You're supposed to be dead" I state stumbling back against the wall "who are you?" I ask. She gives an eerie giggle and holds out her hand "Skylar," she says "Skylar Quinn Maxima" she beams at me and I gingerly shake her hand. "Charlene Grace Maxima" I say and her smile falters. "Your Charlene" she squeaks "I hear them talking about you all the time" and I frown at her. "Sorry, but why are you down here" I ask. "Oh," her smile falters "I've been down here for ages, ever since I got back from the games, they said I was going crazy" she looks down glumly at her hands. "I was the test run you see" she says sitting down on the window bench. "For the DNA" she adds seeing my confused face and I gape at her "you have the DNA?" I ask. "Had," she says smiling sadly "they used me for testing to make it better, and then once they made a new copy, a better copy, they took it out of me and kept me down here. It was very painful" she says sadly wrinkling her nose "but it's all good now, they don't experiment on me anymore and sometimes if I'm good they let me out to do activities" she smiles at me. Then her forehead wrinkles "was there really two victors?" she asks and I nod my head. Suddenly there is a loud screeching and a small flap opens up at the base of the door. A chubby hand pushes in a small tray carrying two bowls of soup and two glasses of water. "Thank goodness, I'm starving" Skylar exclaims rushing towards the food. I bend down and dip my finger in the soup its cold and tastes disgusting "eew" I say pushing it away with my foot. "Eat it" says Skylar "it's all you get."

The next morning I wake up curled in a ball on the window bench. Daylight streams into the room from a small window above the bench. The window is high up and I can't reach it, but when I stand back far enough I can see a tiny bit of ground that is level to the bottom of the window. Skylar lays asleep curled in the corner of the window bench and in this light I can see just how badly injured she is. She has cuts and bruises all over her arms and there is a long scar running from her right forehead down to the top of her right cheek. Despite this scar and her other injuries she is beautiful, she looks about twenty. Suddenly the door slams open and a scientist flanked by two bodyguards enters "Miss Charlene if you would please follow me" he asks and I, noticing the two syringes in the bodyguards hands nod my head and follow him down a dusty corridor. We go into a small white room and I am pushed down onto a bed, I struggle to get up but the body guards quickly inject the syringes into me and my limbs feel heavy. My arms are then strapped down, followed by a large leather rope around my waist and stomach. I try to struggle but it's no use, the scientist leans over at me "now Miss Charlene" he says "this will only hurt a bit" and then more people in lab coats rush in. One particularly fat one looms over me and holds up a syringe "this will make you feel pain again" and he injects it into me. Then the lab people begin clipping wires onto me that are connected to computers and then a few of them grab clipboards while another drenches my head in icy cold water. Then the fat one picks up a long metal rod attached to a wire and presses a small button, sparks fly out of the end and he presses it against my head. I scream as pain runs through my body but there is nothing I can do to stop it. I am briefly aware of the lab people muttering and taking down notes "stop please" I scream but they ignore me continuing to scribble down notes, then he presses the rod to my head continuously. I scream in pain but they never stop "Charlene, your pain is only temporary" says one leaning over me and smiling with a crooked grin, I want to punch him squarely in the jaw but I can't. Finally they all leave the room and I am left tied to the bed. I lay there tears mixed with icy cold water flinching at every small sound.

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Hehehe, so I just kind of went with what game to my face – basically they r just doing tests on her to see how they can improve the DNA thing :) hope you enjoyed it :P


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you ok?" shrieks Skylar running over to me as I'm brutally thrown back into the cell. I try to nod my head but as soon as I do pain overtakes me and I let out a whimper. "Why?" I gasp trying to keep my breathing steady as the room begins to spin around me. "They're never going to stop" Skylar whispers "every time they make it better they'll do more tests, they want us to win, they're just as messed up as the Capitol." Tears streak down my face I want Cato, but I can't have him. The thought of him in district 2 with girls fawning over him causes just as much pain as my aching body. I curl up into a tight ball wincing at the pain and I soon fall into a deep sleep, Skylar singing a soft lullaby beside me.

I have twisted dreams that night. I start off in a clearing with Cato then out of nowhere all the dead tributes are there screaming at me trying to kill me for winning. Then Cato's face merges into the fat lab man and he begins to torture me, then suddenly it's not me being tortured its Skylar then Cato. I awaken screaming drenched in sweat. There is a sharp jab in my arm and I look up to see to bodyguards looming over me "No" I scream as one picks me up and carries me back to that dreaded room. I'm once again tied down and this time the fat one picks up a knife. Wires are quickly attached to me, I wiggle and kick trying to get them off me but it's no use. I close my eyes as the lab assistant drags the knife across my shoulder, I try not to scream but then he pushes it deeply in hitting my bone, and I let out a high pitched scream. He continues to cut through me and I scream every time the pain is unbearable. After a few hours of this they all rush out and a young girl walks through the door. I stare at her waiting for more pain but she does nothing but stare at me. Then she walks to a small cabinet pulling out several items and I close my eyes waiting, I feel a small sting on my shoulder and I look down to see the girl rubbing some gel onto my shoulder. I watch in amazement as the cut heals and disappears not a mark left. She smiles at me and my mouth drops open in shock. I recognize her from the newspaper, 2 years ago at the age of 15 she had disappeared; everyone suspected that she had run away and that the Capitol had caught her and killed her. Seeing people that are supposed to be gone makes me wonder who else is locked up in here. After the girl finishes on my cuts she unstraps me and leads me back to my cell.

Months pass in the cell, the lab people still experiment on me and the pain only ever gets worse. They do all kinds of things from putting me in an icy room to breaking my bones. Now I lay on my back in the cell, Skylar is on the bench sleeping and the room is silent except for her soft snores. The door burst open and I brace myself for whatever will come next. The fat lab guy strides in and grabs my arm in an iron grip; he tugs me up and pulls me out of the room along a corridor. But instead of heading right to the testing room he turns left and shoves me inside a small lounge room. He pushes me onto an armchair and locks the door behind him using a fingerprint scanner. He smiles cruelly at me before beginning to speak "you've been here for 3 months" he says casually pouring himself a cup of tea "which means" he adds "it's time for the victory tour" he gulps down the cup and pours another one. "I'm guessing you want to go" he notes smirking at me over the rim of his cup and I raise my eyebrows confused at where this conversation is going. "We have granted you permission to, err, attend this, event" he says not bothering to keep the disgust out of his voice. "Now," he put his cup aside and leant forward on his chair so that his face was inches from mine and I could smell his nasty breath. "All the people in district 8 think you are still here in the orphanage, and all the people in the orphanage think you're in district 8, so whomever you talk to you tell them you were in the orphanage, are we clear?" he demands. "Yes" I whisper nodding unable to believe that I'm finally leaving this hell hole. The flat bloke stands up and paces around the room "you tell no one about what happened in here" he says "and if you do we may enjoy conducting some similar testing on that fellow victor of yours" he says smirking at me over his shoulder and I glare at him butterflies rushing to my stomach at the thought of Cato. "Oh, and once you arrive back here everything will continue as per usual" he lets out a cruel laugh, grabs me by the arm, swipes his finger on a small screen unlocking the door then he pulls me from the room.

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Ok so that was terrible, but i had no idea what to write and that was like the first thing that came to me so yeah, i promise the next one will be better :)


	3. Chapter 3

Two hours later I stand in front of the Capitol train waiting to board ready for the victory tour. The tour will begin at district 12 and will end in the Capitol. I wave to the thousands of district 8 people who are applauding me and then I step onto the train. Finally the doors slide shut behind me and I am left alone, I run a hand through my hair, glad to finally of had it cleaned and now knot free. "Charlene," a voice shrieks and I turn to see Zelda rushing through a door towards me, closely followed by Trila. Zelda pulls me into a hug giggling madly. "How have you been?" she asks me holding me at arm's length, this question takes me by surprise "umm, good" I say "it was err, nice to see some, err, familiar faces, yeah" I say fiddling with my hair. Trila smiles at me "yes, I expect it's a nice to be back with your family" she says. Zelda clears her throat awkwardly at that comment and then diverts the conversation "come on I'm starving, and you look a little under fed" she raises her eyes at me then leads me to the dining cart. We are served a thick green curry and white rice. Half way through our meal Erint enters, collapsing into a chair across from me with a large sigh. "Where were you?" Zelda asks as I continue to stuff my face with the delicious food, not caring that I will probably vomit it all up later. "I was just down talking to Brutus" he says digging into the meal an Avox had just served him. This catches my attention and I choke on a mouthful of curry "Cato's here?" I ask once I have recovered. "Well where else would he be" says Trila glaring at Erint as he spills curry all down his front. "Why did no one tell me?" I demanded standing up abruptly "I have to see him" I rush towards the door that Erint just came through and turn the handle trying to yank the door open but it doesn't move. I try again pulling on it harshly "why won't it open?" I snap turning to the others and sending each of them a fiery glare. Zelda quickly becomes intrigued by the painting across the room and Erint awkwardly scratches his head before stuffing his face with more curry. Trila glares at them before turning her gaze to me "obviously the door is locked" she says before turning back to her meal. "Why?" I demand glaring at her. "Well the Capitol wasn't to happy with that little stunt you and Cato pulled, and well" she paused and I could tell she was choosing her words carefully, "they just thought it would be for the best if maybe you two didn't erm, talk until the victory tour has officially begun," she finishes. I glare at her "well I say we don't listen to the stupid Capitol and you let me through this door right now" I say "or, or I'll have to break it down." Erint chuckles "still as feisty as ever" he says flashing a grin. "I'm serious" I snap but he ignores me chuckling under his breath. "Urghh" I let a scream out and then I turn stomping through the opposite door and down the hall to my room. I burst into my room slamming my door shut behind me, I then flop down on the bed and scream into my pillow. I cry myself to a surprisingly peaceful sleep.

I wake in the night to feel my arm being softly shaken, I let out a groan rolling onto my back trying to shake off whoever is trying to wake me. "Go away" I mutter weakly trying to swat away the person, but they are extremely persistent and continue to shake me. "Charlie" says the voice, a familiar voice and I sit up so fast my head spins. "Cato" I shriek throwing my arms around the boy that sits opposite me a goofy smile plastered on his face. "Hey," he chuckles, pulling me deeper into the embrace and I find myself crying rather loudly and embarrassingly. "Hey, what's the matter?" he asks pulling away and tilting my face up so that my eyes meet his gaze. "I just missed you" I blubber burying my head into his chest and letting out more loud sobs. "Well, I'm here now" he says stroking my back "now let's get some sleep, I've been up all night waiting for my mentors to go to bed so I can come and see you" he pulls me down into a laying position and I soon fall into a deep sleep, filled with a fantasy of running away with Cato.

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Ok, so sorry that was real bad but i had no idea what to put and i thought i should actually write cause i havent done any for ages - which you can blame my smart teachers who thought it would be a good idea to shove 7 assesment into 4 days - most hectic time of my life - but i made it through and now its the summer holidays so yay i can write again :) Sorry for stupid errors


	4. Chapter 4

When I wake the next morning Cato is gone. I get up immediately and rush out into the lounge and dining area. I yank at the door that separates me from Cato, and find to my disbelief that it has been once again locked. I sigh flopping on to one of the couches. I jump as a door slams open and look hopefully in the direction of the locked door that separates me from Cato, to my dismay however, the door is still closed and Trila stands in a door frame of a door to the left of it. "Oh good you're up" she says prancing into the room fluffing up her aqua hair "we'll be arriving in 1 hour, now go pretty yourself up" she snaps her fingers at me and I immediately obey.

One hour later I step out of the train doors onto a crowded platform. I am dressed in a golden floaty dress that my stylist laid out for me and my hair has been twisted into and elegant knot. I scan the masses of people and soon spot Cato making his way towards me a broad smile on his face. I quickly weave my way through the crowd and literally jump into his arms "I missed you" I whisper into his ear as the crowd coos at us. A couple of peace keepers clear a path through the throng of people and we make our way out the station and into a grand limo that takes us to the president's mansion.

The President's Mansion is large and extremely ugly. It looks exactly like the capitol citizens do, as though a rainbow puked on it. The house itself is a pale blue colour and the doors and windows are yellow, the roof is red and the plants that grow half way up the wall are a mixture of bright and ugly colours. We walk up the marble steps and are quickly greeted by the President himself who smiles at us with a jack o lantern like smile. "Hello, hello" he says "good to see you are well" and the look in his eyes makes me feel as though I'm about to be sent back into the arena. He invites us in and we take a long and extremely boring tour of his house before heading up to the large front balcony that looks down onto the capitol citizens grouped there eagerly awaiting our presence.

Late that evening I stand in the crowded ball room of President Snow's mansion. A loud and completely out of tune band was playing while some of the drunken capitol citizens sung random lyrics to match the tune. I felt so out of place as everybody danced celebrating when I didn't even see the point. I had killed people and being here celebrating their deaths made me feel even more of a monster than I already did. Once or twice I could have sworn I saw some of the career tributes weaving their way through the crowd, only to find I was mistaken.

"I'm just going to go to the bathroom" I whisper to Cato as I slip my hand from his heading towards the doors. I have only just reached them when a hand blocks my path I look up into the eyes of a beefy green faced man. "Hello, hello" he says looking me up and down and I uncomfortably cross my arms over my chest. "Excuse me" I say sweetly "you're blocking the door." He smiles lifting up his arm and I pass through the door way. I can feel him following me as I make my way down the long corridor then suddenly he grabs my shoulder and whirls me round to face him. "My son," he began licking his lips "took particular interest in you in the games" he continued "and I must say I do see his point, you are beautiful" he lifted his hand off my shoulder to stroke my cheek and I immediately stumbled backwards into the wall. "Don't touch me" I snap. He grinned "attitude I like it" he jeers at me "getting to the point my son wants you and I'm going to give you to him" I looked at the green guy in disbelief. _Who did he think he was? _"Well, I'm sorry but I have no intention of meeting your son, I have a boyfriend now bye, bye" then I turned quickly hurrying down the corridor towards the toilets. Just as I reached the door he yelled "I'll have Snow arrange something special" I turn around staring at him in disbelief and then I shake my head and walk into the bathrooms.

Three hours later, the party finally draws to a close and Cato and I climb into a car that takes us back to the train. I guess Zelda or someone must have realised Cato was in my room last night because no one bothers to lock the door that separates our carriages. "Well" said Cato as we crawled into my bed "that could have gone worse" he pulls me closer. "I dunno" I murmur thinking about the green man.

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Yay I finally posted, seriously it was killing me but I had like a major block and absolutely no motivation I kept saying I would write but I never did :l but hopefully I'm like on a roll now and will keep writing :) so yeah um FYI I just completely made up Snow's mansion and all that stuff and basically nothing happens in this chapter but yeah not one of my best chapters real bad actually but yeah hope you enjoyed and that you're all having a good year so far :D


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